Politics

14, August 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Bad news looms large on the horizon ⁰

For many members of the country’s ruling party, the Cameroon Peoples’ Democratic Movement (CPDM), the spotlight should be on the upcoming elections, but that is not what is happening for now. The Southern Cameroons crisis has continued to monopolize the spotlight and this is hurting the ruling party which is already working hard to rig the upcoming presidential election.

However, the party’s rigging machinery seems to be facing some challenges, as other parties and their supporters are working hard to counter any sinister plans the ruling party may have. After more than two decades of election rigging in Cameroon, the ruling party is out of tricks. The people are sadder today, but wiser and this could be seen in the population’s total apathy towards the election. The government’s dismal economic and political performance has hurt many Cameroonians and this is coming back to haunt it, especially as Southern Cameroonians are still seeking to walk away from a fake union that Ahidjo and Foncha had hastily put together shortly after independence.

From every indication, Southern Cameroons does not seem to be part of the election planning programme. The country’s election body is at its wit’s end, as the fighting in the two English-speaking regions of the country rages on. Southern Cameroonian fighters have already warned Southern Cameroonians not to participate in an election they consider as a foreign election. The penalty for participation in the presidential election, they say, will be severe and any culprits may not have the time to regret their decision. This explains why there is no enthusiasm about the election in Southern Cameroons. Even the famous Yaounde-manufactured Southern Cameroonian elite is confused. Many members of this elite have been warned never to return home and many chiefs have been exiled, with many of them now living in Yaounde.

In many parts of the country, the leading opposition party, the Social Democratic Front (SDF) is making inroads, even in the Center, South and East province that used to be the ruling party’s stronghold. Years of false promises are gradually revealing the true picture of the ruling party. Many people around the country now hold that the CPDM is a real crime syndicate whose cardinal objective is to rob the nation blind.

The ruling party is today, the most hated party in the country. Corruption has been its hallmark for the last 30 years. It has really never won any election, but given that it is in control of national institutions such as the military, the constitutional council and the treasury, it has always found creative ways to stay in power despite its dismal economic record.

Though the ruling party considers itself as a democratic movement, its actions on the ground are anything but democratic. The chairperson of the party is the only authority who can decide on the fate of any party member. He chooses those who have to represent the party at all levels. The party’s secretary general is simply a pawn in the hands of the party chairman who is no other than the country’s president, Paul Biya, popularly known as the “monarch”, who has been in power for 36 years with nothing to show for his long stay in power.

The party is currently confused. No party convention has been held for more than a decade, and though Mr. Biya is considered as the party’s natural candidate, many party members are concerned about the party’s choice for this year’s election. Many argue in private that the party is starring down the barrel of defeat, as Mr. Biya has been the worst disaster that has ever happened to the country.

A member of the party’s central committee has hinted Cameroon Concord News Group that the party is gradually falling apart just as Mr. Biya himself who is gradually yielding to a failing heart and a distended prostrate. The party needs to carry out some fundamental changes. The country itself needs an extreme makeover and a sea change in economic policies will enable the crumbling economy to once more find its feet.

“Our party which many erroneously think it is a great party is coming apart. The internal succession battles are ripping the party apart. With Mr. Biya’s health going south, it is clear that his days are numbered. He has been the one holding the party together and now that many party members suspect his health is failing him, they think that someone else should replace him so that the party can have a fair chance at the upcoming presidential election. Mr. Biya seems to wield a lot of power both within the party and the country, but honestly, he is not the person running the show. The country is in very unsafe hands and those who have warmed their way into Mr. Biya’s heart are clearly mismanaging things,” the desperate CPDM Central Committee Member said.

He added that “what our country is going through today in the two English-speaking regions of the country clearly offer us a manual on how best to mismanage a problem. We have already lost more than 2,000 young men and women, including our uniformed officers who should have not been sent to the English-speaking regions in the first place. We of the ruling party must learn how to listen to our people if we have to endear ourselves to the population.”

He also added that “I will never say this in public, but I think the arrogance that has become the hallmark of my party is due to the fact that we have always rigged elections. If the people actually had to decide on who has to win elections, I think my fellow party members will learn how to be humble. Arrogance and greed are suffocating our country and the ruling party. Some people think the country belongs to them and anybody who holds a contrary view is immediately branded a terrorist. That is not how to run a country and a party. We have only succeeded to transform Cameroonians into our enemies and this gives the opposition parties a clear advantage.”

Cameroon, he underscored, was headed in the wrong direction. “We cannot continue to slaughter each other and the president is behaving as if nothing is happening. He has lost total control of how to address this huge fire that he ignited when he declared war on Southern Cameroonians. From every indication, it is clear that the government has not got a plan to put an end to this crisis. The soldiers are all trembling and the fighters on the ground have succeeded to intimidate everybody. Many of my colleagues who are either senators or parliamentarians are all scared of going to their constituencies. They know what awaits them out there. They have been working with the corrupt government to rob the people of their happiness and the time of reckoning has come. None of them can really stand up to the people’s scrutiny.”

“We all are scared. The country is gradually imploding and if we are not careful, we may go the way of many of our neighbors. I am not from Southern Cameroons or Ambazonia, but the pain and suffering the crisis in that region is spinning into the French-speaking part of the country is a great concern even to the president. With huge crowds moving into East Cameroon, it is clear that the Amba boys or whatever they are called could use that opportunity to set up shop in many of our big cities. This is no good news for many of us who really want a peaceful resolution of this problem.

“The fear is more unbearable when we see those videos of people being shot and killed at point blank in the country’s northern region. What will northerners be thinking of the country’s military which is predominantly Beti? The international community has clearly lost faith in us. Human rights groups such as Amnesty International are working hard to expose our government’s brutality and lack of respect for human life. I am indeed at a loss for words. The evil I see in our country leaves me awake all night. We cannot continue to pretend as if we are not human beings. If we cannot deal with the situation, then we should let the United Nations to come in and put an end to the needless killings that are giving our country a very bad name,” he regretted.

While Cameroon is falling apart, the country’s president is in Geneva, Switzerland, in search of proper medical attention for his failing heart and prostrate. The 85-year-old monarch, who has presided over his country’s destiny for almost 36 years, has been dealing with a failing health for more than ten years and his country of choice when it comes to treatment is Switzerland, where it is alleged that he has a horde of young girls who attend to him when he is there.

The very first results from the test carried out on Mr. Biya clearly indicate that the “monarch” has very little time to live. A source close to his entourage in Switzerland has hinted that the monarch has not got much time left, adding that the trip to Switzerland was prompted by the fact that his health condition was already becoming an issue to his close collaborators. Many of his collaborators fear that he might not be able to take the heat that comes with a strenuous exercise like an election campaign.

“The president is suffering. His health is a serious issue to his collaborators and many fear that he might not make it to the end of the year. He is suffering from shortness of breath and he can barely stand and walk. His wife and children are all in fear, as the 85-year-old has been spotting a sorrowful and lonely figure. There is bad news on the horizon. The fear is that if the president disappears from the scene, there could be some chaos in the country. For now, there is a lot of confusion and many of his collaborators have already begun jockeying for recognition as the next-of-kin even when the constitution is clear about what will happen in the event of a vacancy,” our source said.

It should be recalled that the Yaounde Nsimalen International Airport was blocked on the day Mr. Biya was leaving the country for more than five hours just for him and his huge entourage to travel abroad where they are supposed to spend millions of the tax-payer’s money at the Intercontinental hotel which is Mr. Biya’s hotel of choice. A source close to the hotel has hinted that once Mr. Biya and his bunch of kleptokrats are planning a trip to Switzerland, an ATM is set up for them, given their lavish lifestyle and huge appetite for exotic food and goods.

According to a Cameroon Concord News Group source at the Unity Palace, Mr. Biya has a Ghanaian doctor in Geneva who helps to screen all the girls who attend to Mr. Biya when he is in Switzerland. Our source, which elected anonymity, said that Mr. Biya has a special preference for Ghanaian girls and this has been facilitated by the Switzerland-based Ghanaian doctor whose address and phone number have been withheld for security reasons.

Mr. Biya has been using his country’s treasury for more than three decades as his personal piggy bank to pay for his lavish trips abroad. According to a recent report published on Mr. Biya’s trips abroad, it is alleged that he has spent more USD 64 million ever since he came to power. Costs related to his wife’s expenses are yet to be determined, but it is alleged that Mrs. Biya’s flaming red hair is costing the country a pretty penny. For dresses and shoes, they are costing the tax-payer an arm and a leg.

While Mr. Biya is away in Switzerland basking in other people’s wealth and development, his country is gradually falling apart. The killings in Southern Cameroons are on the rise. Cameroon, a country once touted as an oasis of peace, has finally been caught up in the throes of a huge political and economic crises that are ripping the country apart.

The country’s English-speaking minority has engaged the government in a fierce battle for its independence. An issue that started as a protest by teachers and lawyers has quickly developed into a bloody battle that has already resulted in the death of over 2,000 Cameroonians. For most of the dead soldiers, the government is still selling lies to their families that they have simply deserted the military.

The government had clearly miscalculated lots of things ever since the conflict with the country’s English-speaking regions started. It had thought using the military brutality it used in the 1950s and 1960s to quell a rebellion in the country’s French-speaking part of the country shortly after independence, would intimidate Southern Cameroonians into silence. It has, so far, burned down more than a hundred villages in Southern Cameroons, leaving thousands homeless and internally displaced, while hundreds of thousands have fled to Nigeria as refugees.

But this tactic is not working and it is not dampening the determination of the fierce Southern Cameroonian fighters. The strategy has fallen flat on its face. The English-speaking minority is united for a purpose. All attempts by the government and its agents to divide the people have failed woefully. Even money and food have not produced the miracle the government was expecting.

The government that is mostly made up of old and sick people is totally frozen in time. It has failed to figure out that changing times require different strategies. For the government, it only understands one language – an iron fist. But it is hard for old and sick people to deliver any real punches that will destabilize a well-oiled rebellion that is coordinated from abroad. An old person cannot have the right muscles to fight a war that will surely last for years.

The government has failed to understand that the dynamics are totally different. With the advent of social media, its atrocities will be clearly exposed. Southern Cameroonian fighters and the Diaspora are making the most of these technologies of freedom to fragilize a government that has lost its credibility.

But it is the financial role of the Diaspora that is hurting the government’s determination. The Southern Cameroonian Diaspora is large and rich. The Diaspora’s huge war chest is causing the government real nightmares. With some 4 million Southern Cameroonians living abroad, it will be hard for the government to easily wrap up this issue.

The huge fund-raising efforts out there are delivering incredible amounts of money. Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, London – England, Washington, Dallas, Houston and Atlanta have become money manufacturing sites for Southern Cameroonians who have vowed to destabilize Cameroon. The government stands a better chance negotiating than fighting enemies it is not seeing. The Southern Cameroons rebellion is an idea and not a person.

The very first victims of the raging conflict are the innocent civilians, but the Chiefs, Fons and so-called elites have also been made to lose their voices and influence. They have been declared non-grata in their constituencies, as they have been considered as government agents by the people of Southern Cameroons. The wave of kidnappings and drive-by shootings have clearly informed the government-created elite to shut up or else the fighters will come after them and their families.

Southern Cameroonians want to walk away from the fake union. They are sick and tired of being second-class citizens in a union they freely joined. After 56 years of marginalization, they think it is time to walk away. They have had enough and since the government had criminalized any discussion on federalism, they think a clear break from East Cameroon will bring them more peace and prosperity.

Cameroon is in for bad times. There is bad news on the offing. With the monarch fighting for his life, it is clear that the country’s future is bleak. If the world keeps on watching from a distance, then it will be considered as an accomplice when things spiral out of control. Cameroon is a ticking time bomb. The world still has some time to defuse this bomb that might bring down the entire sub-region. The division within the country itself is a course for concern. The world has to wake up from its slumber to smell the disaster that is in the making in Cameroon.

By Kingsley Betek

11, August 2018

French Cameroun-Southern Cameroons crisis deepens ⁰

With elections just a few months away, the political situation in Cameroon looks bleak. There is the escalating conflict in the Anglophone region, there is the Boko Haram-linked instability in the north and then there is the president who is determined to extend his decades-long stay in power.

It is the Anglophone crisis that is currently making international headlines, although it has been brewing for several years.

The conflict between state security forces and armed separatist groups appears to have intensified in recent weeks. The separatists believe that English-speakers in Cameroon — about 20% of the population of 24-million — have been marginalised and discriminated against by the predominantly Francophone government.

“If you see a civil war as a war between the government and its citizens, then I think it is headed towards a civil war, if it’s not a civil war yet,” Emmanuel Freudenthal, one of the few journalists to have reported from the affected region, told the Mail & Guardian.

Fighting on both sides has been characterised by extreme violence. A Human Rights Watch report released last month documented abuses by the separatist armed groups and the Cameroonian security forces. The report documents the separatists’ brutal enforcement of boycotts, particularly in schools, as well as the government’s excessive use of force against demonstrators, and instances of torture and extra-judicial killings.

The clashes have prompted many in the region to flee. The United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that more than 15 000 people have been displaced in the country since December last year, and that an additional 20 000 to 50 000 are seeking refuge across the border in Nigeria.

In addition, Cameroon is battling to contain a Boko Haram insurgency — another conflict characterised by extreme violence. Last month, a video emerged that showed Cameroonian soldiers executing two women and their children in the country’s far north, on suspicion of supporting Boko Haram. The video is representative of the military’s heavy-handed approach to dealing with tensions in the north and the Anglophone regions, say activists.

What does all this mean for the election? President Paul Biya has governed Cameroon for 35 years, and plans to run again in the October 7 poll — even though he is, infamously, an absentee president, spending up to a third of his time out of the country, usually in a luxury hotel in Switzerland.

“It’s going to be quite hard to organise voting in the Anglophone regions. It’s already hard to organise voting in the extreme north,” said Freudenthal. “That means a whole section of the population is not going to be able to vote.”

Things are probably going to get worse, he added. “The government’s military strategy has been to increase violence and increase military attacks against both armed groups and the civilian population…I can’t predict what the armed groups are going to do but it seems most likely they are going to ramp up their activities to make a point.”

‘Ghost towns’

The separatist movement is hard to pin down, given its fractured nature. Though the protests in 2016 were led by lawyers and teachers, with a decidedly non-violent bent, the government’s harsh reaction has strengthened the hand of hardliners and armed factions. They want to secede from Cameroon proper and form a new state called Ambazonia — although even among the hardliners there are a variety of actors who want slightly different things, and with different opinions on how to achieve them.

Though there is a group of activists who describe themselves as an “interim government in exile,” the extent to which this group is considered legitimate by a plurality of Anglophone Cameroonians is unclear. Human Rights Watch estimates that there are between five and 20 armed factions.

The sheer number of armed groups may complicate any attempt to broker a ceasefire or peace agreement — not that any such attempt has yet been made. In fact, the violence is getting worse.

According to Jeffrey Smith, head of Vanguard Africa, an advocacy group: “Since August 2016 especially, the acts of violence [by the armed groups] have become more routine and more brazen…at this point, it almost seems as if armed groups and government forces are actively bidding to outdo one another in terms of shock value.”

For example, in late July, a police officer was decapitated by suspected separatists.

In addition to brutal attacks on the Cameroonian government, the separatist movements are also responsible for the enforcement of “ghost town”days — mass boycotts of work and schools. Those who violate the boycotts are often subjected to brutal retaliation, forcing compliance with the armed separatists’ agenda.

As Max Bone, an expatriate development worker based in Buea, one of the Anglophone region’s major cities, described on social media: “The ghost town has yet to officially start in Buea, but the gunshots have. Around 30 [minutes] of back and [forth] shooting between the non-state armed groups and the military took place just now. Everyone is urging one another to sleep on the floor tonight to be safe.”

Activists say that the ghost days are intended as a form of economic sabotage. They serve other purposes too: as an information-gathering tool for the separatists, and to help telegraph the strength of the movement to the Cameroonian government.

A case in point: the July 23 ghost-town day in Buea, where the boycott was successfully implemented despite being forbidden by the mayor, simultaneously highlighted the strength of the separatists and the weakness of the government.

It is not yet clear how the separatists will use their strength in the upcoming election, which roughly coincides with the second anniversary of the declaration of an independent Ambazonia. They could throw their support behind the opposition party candidate, Joshua Osih Nabangi, running on the Social Democratic Front ticket,or they could boycott the vote. Reports from Buea claim that separatist groups there have beaten people carrying voting cards, declaring them to be the enemy.

“When they claim that simply possessing a voter card makes you an enemy, it gives a disturbing sign as to what their values actually are,” said one aid worker working in the region, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons.

Government weakness

As evidenced by the failure to put an end to ghost days, the Cameroonian government’s ability to project its authority into Anglophone regions is limited. Perhaps because of this, the government’s response to the crisis has been heavy-handed. Human Rights Watch has documented a number of testimonies concerning the government firing live ammunition into crowds of demonstrators.

Videos have emerged from the region, some purportedly showing families being massacred, others detailing the experience of a woman who claims to have been raped in government custody, and others documenting beatings and humiliation. Though the Cameroonian government has promised an investigation into the video of the execution in the country’s far north, so far the government has not publicly disciplined the security sector officials accused of misconduct in Anglophone regions. Furthermore, the Biya administration has targeted Anglophone activists in a series of arrests of high-profile activists and an internet blackout that lasted 93 consecutive days.

Biya himself presents a hurdle to the prospect of a swift and peaceful resolution of the grievances of Anglophone Cameroonians. His reputation for authoritarian repression and his persistent marginalisation of the Anglophones makes the prospect for an inclusive, peace-oriented dialogue seem dim.

Given the Biya administration’s posture towards the separatist movement — as well as its attitude towards democratic norms of accountability — and the number of armed groups that may serve as spoilers to any peace process, there is a need for external pressure to bring all the parties to the table for an inclusive dialogue. This might be a problem that Cameroon cannot solve on its own.

But if the regional and international community is going to make any difference before the presidential vote, they are going to have to act soon. Ensuring that Cameroon’s elections are free, fair, peaceful and credible — and thereby ensuring that all Cameroonians get to exercise their democratic right — demands action today.

“I am especially concerned about the blatant, increasingly complex forms of human rights abuses going on in the country for the last 18 months or more. The trends are particularly alarming,” said Kathleen Ndongmo, an entrepreneur and human rights activist.

“There is very little action from regional bodies and the international community which is extremely disturbing … It’s about time coalitions of civil society at home, in the region and globally begin to find ways to let this government know that we will not stand by and watch them continue to violate a people with impunity without consequence. If the government of Cameroon will not stop oppressing the people of Cameroon, then they should be ready to face serious consequences, one of which can be sanctions against government officials directly.”

Source: Mail/Guardian

10, August 2018

Zimbabwe opposition leader charged over post-election violence ⁰

Zimbabwe’s former finance minister and opposition leader Tendai Biti appeared in court on Thursday to be charged with stoking post-election violence in a case watched around the world as a test of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s treatment of opponents.

Biti, whose People’s Democratic Party had formed an election alliance with Nelson Chamisa’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), sought asylum in neighboring Zambia on Wednesday but was deported back to Zimbabwe in a move condemned by the United States.

He was also charged with falsely and unlawfully announcing results of the July 30 election, which Chamisa rejected as fraudulent and is set to challenge in the Constitutional Court on Friday.

If found guilty, Biti could face up to 10 years in jail, a cash fine or both. He was released on bail and will appear in court again on Friday.

“It’s been an ordeal, but we survive. We live to fight another day, I am glad to be home,” Biti told reporters soon after his release.

The United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR, said it would be a serious violation of international law if Zambian authorities had handed Biti over despite a court order to the contrary, which his lawyer said had indeed been issued by the Zambian High Court.

The European Union, Australia and Canada also said they were “deeply disturbed by continuing reports that opposition supporters are being targeted by members of the Zimbabwean security forces”.

Biti had been in hiding since last week, when six people were killed in a widely condemned army crackdown on protests over the declaration of victory by Mnangagwa’s ruling ZANU-PF party.

State prosecutors did not oppose bail for Biti, which was set at $5,000. He was ordered to surrender his passport and title deeds to his house, and banned from addressing political rallies or news conferences until the case is over.

Mnangagwa said he had intervened to ensure Biti was released, but also said that Biti faced serious charges and that the legal process should be allowed to take its course.

“At such a crucial time in the history of the new Zimbabwe, nothing is more important than unity, peace and dialogue. I call on all parties to immediately cease from all forms of incitement to violence,” Mnangagwa wrote on his official Twitter page.

Some fear the post-election turmoil will derail the chances of mending an economy facing acute shortages of cash and desperate for foreign investment.

(Source: Reuters)

10, August 2018

Cameroonians sceptical as elections approach ⁰

Elections in Cameroon, scheduled for October 7, will be held against a backdrop of uncertainty in the English-speaking regions and amid accusations that the government is planning to rig the polls.

In exactly two months, Cameroonians will be going to the polls to elect their president. Twenty-eight candidates are in the running, including 86-year-old incumbent Paul Biya, who has been in power for 36 years. He is Africa’s second longest serving leader after his neighbour Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea.

But there are doubts inside and outside Cameroon that this election will be free and fair, especially in the Anglophone regions in the west, bordering Nigeria, which have been in turmoil for the past two years, when residents started to press their claims for more autonomy or even independence. According to the United Nations, 200 000 people have been internally displaced and 40 000 have sought refuge in neighbouring countries.

Polls amid the mayhem

Among those who fled violence is 8-year-old Kum Vitalis who cried when media asked him about his life now: “They didn’t pay my father and there was no money for school fees or food in the house. That is why they brought us to safety here. When it gets better, they will take us back. They have been shooting people inside their houses and they are just dying like that.”

The government denies having any role in the atrocities taking place in the region. But both the UN and non-governmental organisations such as Human Rights Watch have filed reports on crimes against humanity by armed rebels and government troops. Fifty-four-year-old teacher Ngum Julius, who fled the English-speaking town of Njinikom, believes elections cannot be held there.

“All businesses are shut down. All government services are shut down, except the military. Many people have gone away. Too many people are dying, too many people are being displaced. We need to sit at the same table as Cameroonians and talk it out and find a solution,” Julius said.

Cameroon is also dealing with attacks by Boko Haram militants in the north, and a spillover of violence from the Central African Republic.

Voter apathy

Scepticism about the elections is not limited to the Anglophone regions in the country. In Bonamoussadi, a student residential area of the capital Yaounde, young people say that they should be discussing football instead of wasting time with elections, because the process is not working anyway. Tatah Hans is one of them. “I am a Cameroonian. It is normal to vote. I have to vote. But I am facing so many difficulties because very soon they will start voting and I don’t have a voter’s card. I don’t know what to do,” he told media.

Voter apathy is evident; only seven million of a total of 13 million voters have actually registered to cast their ballot. But supporters of Paul Biya, like Jacques Fame Ndongo, say elections will go ahead despite the rebels’ attempts. “We know that their mad dream is to stop the organization of the presidential election in those two regions, but that mad dream will never come to fruition because the population of the Northwest and the Southwest regions is determined to express its total support to the head of state and his party, the CPDM (Cameroon’s People Democratic Movement),” he said.

Fighting fraud

Meanwhile, the main opposition political party, the Social Democratic Front (SDF), cautions the government against fraud. Denise Nkemlemo, the SDF’s communication secretary, says the election management body has already started to break the law, for instance by setting up voting stations where they shouldn’t: “We are not supposed to have voting stations inside the presidency; military camps are also out of the question,” she said. According to Nkemlemo, at polling stations in those places in previous elections, CPDM’s votes outnumbered those for the SDF by a wide margin. “When our representatives wanted to raise questions, the military came with guns and told them “we don’t make noise here.” The SDF will not tolerate the lack of respect of the electoral law,” she added.

These claims are rejected by Enow Abrams Egbe, the electoral body’s board chair, who says critics have ulterior motives. “It is normal that detractors play their game, but we are playing our role with serenity and everything is moving on smoothly,” he said.

Source: DW

9, August 2018

Congo-Kinshasa: Kabila to quit as Head of State, Party names new candidate ⁰

Democratic of Congo’s ruling party on Wednesday named a candidate for long delayed elections due to hold in December this year. Today was the deadline slated by the elections body, CENI, for submission of candidature.

The candidate is in the person of Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, a former minister of interior. His nomination was confirmed by information minister Lambert Mende.

The 57-year-old parliamentarian and former governor of the Maniema Province is expected to replace Kabila if the ruling party wins the upcoming polls.

The current move indicates that Joseph Kabila, in power since 2001, will be stepping down as president. The constitution barred him from a third term after having served two terms.

The international community especially the United States have been at their “loudest” in calling for Kabila to exit and allow a newly elected leader to take over the reigns – as stipulated by the constitution.

Kabila’s silence kept many watchers on tenterhooks and left the country in a tense state. Meanwhile, in next door Zambia, one of his major opponents remains locked out of the country. Moise Katumbi has failed by air and land to return to the country after about two years of self imposed exile.

The former Katanga province governor is one of leading opponents hoping to file to contest for the presidency. Others include Felix Tshisekedi – son of veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi. Ex VP Jean Pierre Bemba is in the race as are others.

Kabila, in power since 2001, was barred by term limits from running for re-election but he repeatedly refused to commit publicly to not standing.

Security forces have killed dozens of protesters since Kabila refused to quit power at the end of mandate in December 2016, saying the government was not yet prepared to hold the election to succeed him. Militia violence in the eastern borderlands with Rwanda and Uganda has also risen.

Western powers and Congo’s neighbours fear even worse violence across the country if Kabila digs in and runs, with memories still fresh of civil wars around the turn of the century that killed millions, most from hunger and disease.

Source: Reuters/Africa News

8, August 2018

White House confirms August 27 Kenyatta-Trump meeting ⁰

The White House has announced a meeting between United States president Donald Trump and his Kenyan counterpart later this month, specifically on August 27.

In an official statement, the White House said the meeting between Uhuru Kenyatta and Donald Trump will look to discuss “ways to broaden the strategic partnership based on our shared democratic values and mutual interests.”

The duo will also be expected to hold talks in the area of trade, investment and security cooperation. Kenya and Ethiopia are seen as crucial to U.S. counterinsurgency combat in the East Africa region.

Whiles describing Kenya as a “vital partner” of the U.S., the statement stressed that “the meeting between the two leaders will reaffirm the longstanding relationship between the United States and Kenya as a cornerstone of peace and stability in Africa and the broader Indo-Pacific region.”

The Indo-Pacific region as alluded to comprises countries in Asia, but the East African coast is on the region’s far western edge according to the Australian Lowy Institute.

Kenyatta who won a final term in office after disputed elections in 2017 will become the third African president to visit the White House. The first north African leader was Egypt’s Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi before Nigeria’s Muhammadu Buhari took his turn earlier this year.

White House statement on Kenyatta-Kenyatta meeting

President Donald J. Trump will welcome President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya to the White House on August 27, 2018.

Kenya is a vital partner of the United States, and President Trump looks forward to discussing ways to broaden the strategic partnership based on our shared democratic values and mutual interests.

The meeting between the two leaders will reaffirm the longstanding relationship between the United States and Kenya as a cornerstone of peace and stability in Africa and the broader Indo-Pacific region.

President Trump and President Kenyatta will explore ways to bolster trade and investment between the two countries, while strengthening security cooperation.

Source: Africa News

7, August 2018

French Cameroun Politics: ELECAM clears Biya, eight others for October 7 polls ⁰

Cameroon’s electoral body, ELECAM, on Tuesday cleared nine candidates to run for the presidential polls slated for October 7, 2018. Incumbent Paul Biya is seeking to extend his 36 years in power by a fresh seven-year mandate.

The nine include Biya who leads the ruling Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement (CPDM). His main challengers will be Joshua Osih of the Social Democratic Front (SDF) and lawyer Akere Muna – a former head of the country’s bar association.

The other candidates to be present on the ballot paper include: Serge Espoir Matomba, Cabral Libii, Njifor Franklin, Maurice Kamto, Garga Haman and Ndam Njoya.

Over twenty candidates filed their candidacy to contest for the highest political seat of the land. ELECAM disqualified all but the nine above whiles one candidate is said to have withdrawn his candidacy.

The October 7 vote is seen as a stern test for the incumbent who has often won elections with huge margins. A current security crisis in the country’s Anglophone regions have continually affected Biya’s popularity.

Pro-independence groups under the banner of so called Ambazonia Republic continue to wage guerilla-style attacks on members of the security forces across the South-West and North-West – Anglophone regions.

Political watchers are projecting that for the opposition to effectively tackle Biya, there would need to be an alliance to back a common candidate but it remains to be seen in the next two months if they can pull off such a move.

Source: Africa News

6, August 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Talking tough will not help matters ⁰

The Southern Cameroons crisis that has given the country a bad name is gradually getting into a critical phase. The country’s minister of territorial administration is not displaying the maturity leadership imposes on people. He is still talking tough and this is hurting any chances for peace.

If talking tough could address many issues, the Southern Cameroons crisis that has given the country a very bad name, could have been addressed. As the situation deteriorates, it will be wise for both parties to keep it low. Tough language has never really resolved any issue, but people like Atanga Nji are yet to understand that. Words are like bullets. Once they are out of the mouth, they cannot be recalled and they have the potential to ruin any efforts at bringing back peace to a people.

Atanga Nji displayed this primitive tendency a few days ago while receiving some Fako chiefs who had been released by Southern Cameroonian fighters after protracted negotiations. For Atanga Nji, the country’s territorial administration minister, who received the chiefs in Yaounde, he used the occasion to provoke Southern Cameroonian fighters.

He promised tracking down all the fighters who are in the jungle, adding that they and their progeny would be made to pay for their crimes if they did not come out of the jungle that has been serving as a five-star hotel to them and a green jail to all those arrested.

Mr. Atanga Nji who is not a respected minister in Cameroon, failed to understand that if it was easy to arrest the fighters in the thick equatorial jungle of the Southwest region, that would have been done a long time ago. His constant use of unfriendly language has unfortunately led to the killing of many uniformed officers.

Over the last few days, not less than 8 uniformed officers have been killed in Southern Cameroons and this has resulted in renewed violence, with the ordinary civilian suffering for something he knows nothing about.

Mr. Atanga Nji and his Yaounde masters should figure out that there will never be a total military solution to this issue. Southern Cameroonians are determined to stay the course, and only genuine and sincere dialogue will stop tempers from flaring.

The fighters on the ground are people who hold that they have nothing to lose. They have already lost everything. Their dignity is gone. Their future has been ruined. And some have lost their families to this unnecessary war.

However, it is also important to mention that arresting chiefs and Fons, does not give the revolution a good name. South West chiefs just like their North West counterparts are not against the revolution. They cannot openly state their disagreement with what the government is doing.

It is therefore absurd to kidnap them. They are Southern Cameroonians to the core. However, they must always do their job. They are public servants and they must pay allegiance to the government that pays them.

For the government, it has a lot to gain. A restoration of peace across the country will enable it to have total control of its territory and resources. The existence of armed groups robs it of its revenue sources.

The Southern Cameroons crisis has hit the Yaounde government like a ton of bricks. The country’s economy is suffering. Its Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) seem to be out of service. State corporations located in Southern Cameroons are already feeling the heat.

Pamol, a palm oil production corporation located in Lobe, a small town in Ndian Division, has finally shut its doors as the fighting between Southern Cameroonian fighters and army soldiers takes a turn for the worse. This revenue stream has stopped flowing and Yaounde is really ill-at-ease.

Pamol’s closure is bad news for the government. More than three thousand Pamol workers are today unemployed and living in permanent fear, as the fighting between the warring factions rages on.

Schools and courts in the region have been closed for almost two years and it is increasingly obvious that the Yaoundé government has lost control of certain parts of the two English-speaking regions.

But it is not only Pamol’s closure that is causing the government nightmares. The Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC), one of the country’s major employers, is also going through a rough patch.

Some of its factories have closed shop, while the fighters have deliberately set some of its infrastructure ablaze as part of their economic sabotage campaign. Malende, a small town located some 6 km from Muyuka, has witnessed huge unemployment rates. The corporation’s rubber factory was set ablaze sometime last month by some unidentified men and this has hit CDC like a ton of bricks.

In other plantations, many workers have simply deserted. The fighting is disrupting economic activities in those plantations and many workers hold that it is better to quit than be caught up between the devil and the deep blue sea.

The fighting, coupled with the derisory salaries the corporation pays to its workers, has made CDC unattractive and this is gradually eroding the government’s tax base.

Similarly, government revenue has taken a nosedive, as the national oil refinery located in the Southwest region is also facing some major challenges. While falling global oil prices are spreading pain and suffering among oil exporters, the declining oil output and constant attempts by Southern Cameroonian fighters to bring down the country’s lone oil refinery are leaving the government in a huge messy economic quandary.

The crisis is a true nightmare to this once-upon-a-time oasis of peace. It is, indeed, a millstone around the government’s neck. Things might soon spiral out of control as the fighters threaten to attack SONARA at the slightest opportunity. They argue that they have never gained from the oil and that it will be better for everybody to suffer the consequences of the government’s recklessness.

These planned acts of sabotage do not augur well for a government that is already on its knees. It is already having a tough time paying civil servants and this is causing fear among the civil servants, especially the military, many of whom want to desert and seek a better life for their families abroad.

The government has a bigger crisis on its hands. It had not properly analyzed its decision before implementing it. It is gradually recognizing that declaring war on its own people is a big mistake, as the impact of the war is spreading into East Cameroon. With a large influx of internally displaced people into East Cameroon, housing and food have become very expensive in those cities receiving the internally displaced.

Douala and Yaounde have been home to most of this internally displaced people and these two cities lack the proper infrastructure to handle such situations. And the situation is declining very fast.

Declining oil revenues and falling production of some of the country’s major employers like CDC and Pamol implies that the government is heading for a financial squeeze. This is exactly what is causing frustration within the government. Many development projects have been suspended due to lack of resources.

Cameroon is indeed at the crossroads. With elections around the corner and the fighting in the English-speaking regions raging on, it is clear that a disaster is lurking somewhere and before long the country could be transformed into an inferno.

The frustration in East Cameroon is also mounting, as many people fall into abject poverty. It is becoming increasingly clear that Mr. Biya is not the man to lead the country to the land of promise. His time is up and there is a consensus around the world that he has overstayed his welcome.

It is time for him to bow out if he does not want the country to sink into a bitter civil war; the type that has destroyed many African countries ruled by dictators. The scourge of war seems to be advancing towards Cameroon and many people around the world are worried that if the Sword of Damocles descends on Cameroon, the entire sub-region might be pushed into unprecedented chaos.

Tempers are already flaring in the country. For 36 years, Mr. Biya has only favored people from his own region. Though the center and south regions constitute less than 10% of the country’s population, they make up 80% of the country’s government; a situation that is hurting many Cameroonians from other regions of the country.

It is therefore in the government’s interest to change its language. Speaking the language of peace is not a sign of weakness. Atanga Nji must understand that he will never win this war. If he thinks that he will be going to Washington, Houston, Atlanta, Dallas, London, Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and other cities around the world to kidnap Southern Cameroonians living there, then he has not yet figured out the full extent of the government’s previous mistakes.

The Southern Cameroonian Diaspora has a huge war chest and it is ready and willing to make the Yaounde government pay for its mistakes. Southern Cameroonians have dollar millionaires who are capable of keeping the government in this pretty military mess for many decades.

The government had underestimated the will of the people of Southern Cameroons to right the wrongs of the past. For many of them, their fate is worse than death and they have very little time to be around this planet. They want to establish their own country and even ensure that future generations do not deal with such time-consuming and energy-sapping challenges.

The fighters are, of course, receiving huge support from the Diaspora that has transformed this issue into an opportunity for its strength and influence to be felt. With some 4 million Southern Cameroonians out of the country, it is likely that more money will be flowing to Cameroon to feed the war that has rushed many young men and soldiers to an early grave.

The government had never thought that the Southern Cameroonian Diaspora could be this influential. It had also underestimated the anger of those living abroad. Southern Cameroonians started living the country as far back as 1965 when the country’s first president, Amadou Ahidjo, displayed his huge appetite for dictatorship. For many Southern Cameroonians, it was better to live abroad a free man than to live at home in invisible chains.

Today, that Diaspora has reduced the Yaounde government to a symbol of mockery. The Diaspora is financing the war in the country and it is willing to bring down the entire country. Gradually, the Francophone Diaspora is also joining in. Francophones now know that if the current system is not brought down, their own children will be caught up in a pretty mess, as Southern Cameroonians already have a foot out of the fake union that was put together by Ahidjo, Foncha and Muna who are all dead and gone.

If the government wants to address this issue, then it has to change its language. The current language is not delivering the desired results. It must also understand that it must make lots of concessions if it wants peace to return to the country. There are many lessons for the government to learn. This situation should leave it a sadder, but a wiser government.

It must never underestimate the power and will of the Diaspora. The Diaspora will continue to destabilize the country if the government does not seek genuine reconciliation through inclusive dialogue. The ball is in the government’s court. The Diaspora holds the trump card. Its vast resources and influence over the fighters make it a partner in any negotiations. The government has to meet the Diaspora halfway if it is thinking of peace.

Any Dialogue will not take place in Cameroon. The Diaspora holds that the government is not worthy of its confidence. Washington or Ottawa have therefore been chosen as the place for any talks. The Canadian government, in particular, will be willing to mediate.

Canada is noted for its peace-keeping and peace-building initiatives across the globe. It is therefore the right peace-broker in this situation. It has lots of lessons for Cameroon as it has once dealt with a similar situation. The government must come out of its current position. Grand-standing and posturing will not make things better. Humility and recognition of its mistakes will calm down tempers.

By Kingsley Betek in Yaounde

5, August 2018

Congo-Kinshasa: Opposition leader Katumbi blocked from returning home ⁰

Congo opposition leader Moise Katumbi has been blocked from entering the country to register as a candidate in December’s long-delayed presidential election, a spokesman said Saturday.

Zambia’s government told Katumbi of the refusal by Congolese authorities, Olivier Kamitatu Etsu said in a post on Twitter, adding: “Have you ever seen a government forbid a so-called fugitive to turn himself in?”

Katumbi had been a leading presidential contender before fleeing Congo in May 2016 as prosecutors announced their intent to try him on charges of hiring mercenaries, which he denied. The legal issues emerged after he resigned from the ruling party in 2015.

Now the former governor of the copper-rich Katanga region is trying to come home ahead of the Aug. 8 deadline for candidates to register. He said on Friday that Congo’s government also had not permitted him to arrive by plane.

“In trying to block me, they want to take away Congolese citizens’ right to real elections,” Katumbi said on Twitter, where his party posted video of crowds running alongside his motorcade at a dusty border post.

Amnesty International has called the blocking of Katumbi’s return a “flagrant violation” of his constitutional rights, and Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth has called it President Joseph Kabila’s “latest ploy to retain power beyond his constitutional term limit.”

Congo’s presidential election has been delayed since late 2016, to the growing frustration of the opposition and international community. The opposition worries that the 47-year-old Kabila, who by law cannot run again, will find a way to hold onto power. He has been president of the turbulent, mineral-rich country since 2001, when his father Laurent was killed in office.

Earlier in the week Katumbi congratulated another rival for the presidency, former Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba, as he submitted his candidacy. Bemba returned to Congo on Wednesday after more than a decade following his acquittal on war crimes charges by appeals judges at the International Criminal Court in June.

Congo’s constitutional court still has to rule on potential candidates’ eligibility, raising the possibility that Bemba and Katumbi, if manages to return could be barred from running.

Bemba has called on the government to not exclude Katumbi from participating, calling him “a major political player in this country.”

(AP)

2, August 2018

Zimbabwe: Clashes erupt in Harare as opposition protesters challenge vote results ⁰

President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Wednesday called for calm as police fired live rounds, water cannon and teargas in Harare at crowds protesting alleged fraud in Zimbabwe’s elections. At least three people were killed in the unrest, police said. “At this crucial time, I call on everyone to desist from provocative declarations and statements,” Mnangagwa said on Twitter. “Now is the time for responsibility and above all, peace.”

Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi also appealed for calm and said the army was deployed on the streets to restore “peace and tranquility”.

“The presence of the army is not to intimidate people but to ensure that law and order is maintained. They are there to assist the police,” Ziyambi said in an interview broadcast on eNCA television. “They are there as a people’s army to ensure that peace and security prevails.” Zimbabwe police on Wednesday fired live rounds, water cannon and teargas at opposition supporters in Harare as tensions erupted over alleged fraud in the election.

Officers had been facing off through a locked gate against crowds who brandished opposition party banners and chanted slogans against the ruling ZANU-PF party. Protesters burned cars and threw rocks as helicopters hovered above.

“You said you were better than Mugabe – you are the picture of Mugabe,” shouted one young male protester wearing a white T-shirt. “We need security for the people.”

European Union election observers had earlier criticised the elections, the first since long-time ruler Robert Mugabe stepped down in November, for being held on an “un-level playing field”.

Opposition leader Nelson Chamisa’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has accused President Mnangagwa’s ZANU-PF party and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission of using underhand tactics to steal the election from them.

An angry crowd of mostly young men, some of whom covered their faces, whistled and chanted “Chamisa, Chamisa” in downtown Harare.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission showed Mnangagwa’s ZANU-PF cruising to a big majority after picking up 109 seats against 41 for the opposition MDC. Another 58 seats are yet to be declared.

The MDC won in most urban centres, where it enjoys majority support. The party accused the election commission on Tuesday of deliberately delaying results of this week’s vote to favour the ruling party, reporting irregularities in the first poll since the removal of Robert Mugabe in a bloodless November coup.

Mnangagwa said the violence was meant to disrupt the election and blamed the MDC leadership.

“We hold the opposition MDC Alliance and its whole leadership responsible for this disturbance of national peace, which was meant to disrupt the electoral process,” Mnangagwa said, according to ZBC.

In a late-night press conference, Home Affairs Minister Obert Mpofu warned that the government “will not tolerate any of the actions that were witnessed today”.

“The opposition … have perhaps interpreted our understanding to be weak, and I think they are testing our resolve and I think they are making a big mistake,” he said.

Chamisa’s spokesman, Nkululeko Sibanda, told reporters the army’s reaction was unjustified: “Today we saw the deployment of military tanks and firing of live ammunition on civilians for no apparent reason.”

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called on Zimbabwe’s political leaders and people to exercise restraint and reject any form of violence.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and REUTERS)